Community Networks namely; Muungano Wa Wanavijiji; The Youth Congress, Nairobi People’s Settlement network and Kutoka Network supported by Hakijamii and one of its donors, KIOS held a linking and learning exchange visit on land, housing and eviction campaign in Nairobi at St. Joseph Catholic Church Sinai on 1st November 2011.
Security of tenure has for many years been taken for granted by successive governments resulting in endemic cases of forced evictions especially of the urban poor. Forced evictions in Kenya have been used as a way of oppressing and often result into violations of a number of human rights. It is for these reasons that the need for a strong national grassroots movement to stop the practice is a key component of Hakijamii’s advocacy work.
Through sharing and learning grassroots urban advocacy groups are able to forge sustainable solidarity and build a strong constituency that is able to compel policy makers to respond to their needs. The exchange visit enabled the community groups to share their experiences and deliberate on the way forward on the issues of forced evictions and other human rights violations linked to the right to adequate housing in their respective regions. The meeting attracted media coverage and the deliberations were aired by KTN TV during its 9 pm news on the same day. Through such activities community voices and concerns are given wider visibility and their rights get recognition in the national political debates.
In its continued efforts to meaningfully contribute to the implementation of the Constitution, Hakijamii and its community partners and other civil society groups organized a campaign rally at Ufangamano House-Nairobi on the 12th day of October 2011. The main objective the activity was to remind the Government of its obligation to ensure that adequate measures are put in place for the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, water and sanitation and speed up land reforms in conformity with the Constitutional provisions.
The rally was attended by four hundred and sixty participants from urban informal settlements in Nairobi. Participants were drawn from some of the most vulnerable groups including persons with disability, the elderly and youth. Out of the total participants 224 were female and 236 male. A petition by the participants was presented to the various policy makers who were present at the meeting. These included officials from the Ministry of Housing, The Ministry of Internal Security and Provincial Administration, and National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). In the Petition the participants demanded, among others, for the immediate adoption and implementation of the Eviction and Resettlement Guidelines and operationalization of the National Land Commission.
This was yet another clear example that the marginalized groups are becoming key actors in claiming their rights. The participants vowed to follow up on the commitments made by the various duty bearers to ensure implementation. They also resolved to name and shame those who do not fulfill the promises and also the offices that are reluctant to attend such meetings in the future.
In its continued efforts to meaningfully contribute to the implementation of the Constitution, Hakijamii and its community partners and other civil society groups organized a campaign rally at Ufangamano House-Nairobi on the 12th day of October 2011. The main objective the activity was to remind the Government of its obligation to ensure that adequate measures are put in place for the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, water and sanitation and speed up land reforms in conformity with the Constitutional provisions.
The rally was attended by four hundred and sixty participants from urban informal settlements in Nairobi. Participants were drawn from some of the most vulnerable groups including persons with disability, the elderly and youth. Out of the total participants 224 were female and 236 male. A petition by the participants was presented to the various policy makers who were present at the meeting. These included officials from the Ministry of Housing, The Ministry of Internal Security and Provincial Administration, and National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). In the Petition the participants demanded, among others, for the immediate adoption and implementation of the Eviction and Resettlement Guidelines and operationalization of the National Land Commission.
This was yet another clear example that the marginalized groups are becoming key actors in claiming their rights. The participants vowed to follow up on the commitments made by the various duty bearers to ensure implementation. They also resolved to name and shame those who do not fulfill the promises and also the offices that are reluctant to attend such meetings in the future.
On 25th and 26th October 2011 Hakijamii organized a meeting to develop a community-driven monitoring and evaluation tool with various stakeholders to test the applicability of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) social tariff in Kibera and Mukuru. The intended use of the tool is to test the standards of use of the social tariffs in terms of charging and to get recommendations on the tariff regulations.
The outstanding achievement of the activity was that a guided questionnaire was developed which will be used to come up with a fine tool to be used in monitoring and evaluation in the water sector which can not only be used by community members but also various stakeholders in the water sector like the service providers and water vendors.
A lot of information on water related issues was also shared across the board which was very empowering for all participants.
As part of Hakijamii’s efforts to push for the realization of the right to basic education in informal settlements, the organization is engaging in trainings to enable community groups in informal settlements to make demands for integrity and accountability in the education sector with the aim of stamping out corruption. Two such activities were conducted on 8th October 2011 at The Pumwani Social Hall and on 8th November 2011 at the Makadara Mbotela hall.
The objectives of these sessions were to assist participants to understand and appreciate accountability and integrity both at the national and international levels; identify accountability and integrity issues in the education sector at all levels and how they are currently being addressed at the community ,school management, Civil Society , Government and donor levels; identify gaps and opportunities for community groups to promote rules, accountability and enforcement systems that would deal with malpractices in the management and administration of education and to build consensus on specific recommendations(proposed rules, accountability measures and enforcement )
The participants developed clear recommendations aimed at improving accountability and integrity in primary school management. They resolved to undertake follow up measures that would promote accountability and integrity and reduce cases of corruption in the use of resource and school management.
Strong and democratic social movements are the main driving force for meaningful human rights advocacy. Hakijamii remains committed to working closely in assisting and strengthening of such movements throughout the country. On the 12th September 2011 Hakijamii organized a training session on leadership, governance, financial management and information, communication and technology for members of the Kisumu Social Rights Association (KISORA) in Kisumu town at Magadi Catholic Social Hall. The objective of the training was to enhance the knowledge and skills of KISORA members on democratic leadership, accountable and transparent governance, basic financial systems, resource mobilization and the effective use of information, communication and technology. .
Participants were called upon to identify some of the immediate leadership, governance and capacity gap issues and come up with suggestions on how to address them. An action plan was developed to address areas of collaboration and networking, internal reporting, membership contributions, accountability and transparency as well as effective use of information, communication and technology in human rights’ advocacy. They plan to use the knowledge gained in this training to improve their internal leadership mechanism and fundraising for the organization.
With the opening up of the budget-making process, Hakijamii’s community partners were some of the first grassroots organizations to take advantage of this new opportunity by presenting their views and concerns to the Parliamentary Committee during public hearings. Indeed, the Nairobi People’s Settlement Network, Muungano wa Wanavijiji, Kasarani Youth Congress, Kutoka Network, and Kisumu Social Rights Association were pioneers in calling for an open budget process. From 2007 they have been engaged in developing a truly People’s Budget based on the clear understanding that the budget is an extremely important tool in the realization of human rights and cannot therefore be left exclusively to technocrats and politicians.
Attached is the budget proposal as presented by KISORA on June 23, 2011: The people’s budget
Leading international human rights organizations and experts have been granted leave to be joined as amici curiae in a landmark economic and social rights petition before the High Court of Kenya in Embu. These are Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Socio-Economic Rights Institute; Community Law Centre; Centre for Economic and Social Rights (Hakijamii); Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation Social Rights Advocacy Centre; and Malcolm Langford Director of the Socio-Economic Rights Programme (Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo).
The case, filed by a community of over 1,000 residents in Garissa, Kenya, seeks to have the government enjoined from evicting petitioners from a piece of land they have been occupying for several years. The case orders that the petitioners be provided with emergency alternative housing, shelter/accommodation, food, clean and safe drinking water, sanitary facilities and health care services; relevant information on the status of adjudication, demarcation, registration and ownership of the land in question; written information exhibiting the decisions and reasons for demolition of homes and structures, the evictions, eviction notices, court orders and/or any other written authority authorizing the demolition of their homes and written information exhibiting any efforts/steps by the Respondents in providing alternative housing and/or shelter for the Petitioners.
On 28th February 2011 all the above orders were granted pending the hearing of the application inter partes. On the 20th of June 2011, the six organizations were granted leave to join as amici in the case. To date they have already filed their submission and are only waiting for the hearing date to be fixed. They are being represented by Odindo Opiata of Hakijamii. The case raises interesting issues of law particularly with respect to the positive orders being sought and the ruling is likely to have far reaching implications for the enforcement of economic and social rights under the country’s new Constitution.
The petitioners (applicants) in this case were evicted and had their homes demolished in December 2010, rendering them homeless without the provision of alternative land or housing. Due process protections – adequate notice, the ability to make representations to challenge the eviction, or the opportunity for meaningful participation in decisions related to the eviction – were not provided. The eviction resulted in households being forced to relocate to areas with no access to free and compulsory basic education for children or to other essential services. Livelihood opportunities were compromised, affecting the rights to food, water and sanitation, and health care.
Kenya has recently concluded a constitutional revision process which has resulted in economic and social rights being explicitly included in the revised Constitution, including: protection of right to property, right to housing and sanitation, right to adequate food of acceptable quality, clean and safe water in adequate quantities. In addition, under international law – the focus of the collective intervention by ESCR-Net members – forced evictions and the attendant violations to the rights to food, water, sanitation, and education are prohibited under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), both ratified by Kenya.
ESCR-Net member, Economic and Social Rights Centre (HAKIJAMII) in Kenya has taken the lead in representing the victims in this case. Odindo Opiata, Director of Hakijamii, noted “the intervention by some of the leading international organizations on economic and social rights litigation has given a crucial impetus to the implementation of the Bill of Rights under our new Constitution. There is no doubt that the immense knowledge accumulated over many years by the organizations has provided a unique opportunity for the Kenyan judiciary to chart new ground in economic and social rights jurisprudence”.
As part of the continued commitment to ensure participation in the implementation of the Constitution, especially with regard to the progressive realization of economic and social rights, Hakijamii and its community partners presented written petitions to the Task Force that is reviewing education policies and laws to ensure that they comply with the new Constitution. In their petitions the focus was on the right to free and compulsory education as stipulated under article 53 of the Constitution. The petitions underscored the need to ensure that immediate steps are taken by the Government to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to free and compulsory primary education for all children because the right is immediate and is not subject to the requirement of progressive realization.
The conference was organized by Kios in partnership with East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) for Kios partners in the East African Region. Hakijamii was represented by director of programmes; Mr. Elijah Odhiambo. The conference discussed among other issues, the situation of human rights defender in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia and D.R.Congo.
The conference noted that human rights defenders face challenges as they carry out their work; some of the challenges target their institutions, while others target the human rights defenders themselves.
It is against these challenges that the conference noted that the rights of human rights defenders need to be protected against the aggressors, by taking practical measures, which include training human rights defenders on protection and management of their own security.
The conference discussed the protection and security management mechanism for HRD. This subject discussed a number of steps to undertake to ensure the security of the human rights defenders. The conference resolved that given the importance of the subject, all Kios partners who have not been trained on this subject must be trained.
Sari Naskinen (Kios), Honorary Consul of Finland to Uganda: Mr. Richard Mugera, Ms Elisa Mikkola (Executive Director-Kios) and Elijah Odhiambo (programme director-Hakijamii), pose for a photo after the conference on 5th May 2011
A mother and her young son next to her demonlished house
As we continue to celebrate the adoption of the new Constitution ( and it
has very progressive provisions on land and environment) and the earlier
adoption of the National Land Policy, the lords of impunity have yet to
reform. Nowhere is this more evident than in Garissa town. Take the case of
Mathina Location, for instance.On the 3rd of December 2010, the District
Commissioner Samson Macharia arrived accompanied by one bull dozer, 3
lorries, 4 taxis and a Land Rover in which there were Administration Police
officers and a group of youth. The District Commissioner informed the
perplexed residents that a ring road making the boundary of Garissa town and
the other area was to be constructed and he had come to mark where the road
would pass and that anybody whose home fell outside the town boundary would
be considered to be illegally occupying Government land and subject to
eviction. No notice had been given neither was any reason given why the
residents were to be evicted. He also never indicated when the exercise
would begin.
On the 24th of December 2010 the District Officer, Garissa in the company of
the Town’s Deputy Mayor together with armed Police Officers (
Administration) in riot gear and several youth, descended on the settlement
and started a systematic demolition of structures and in the process injured
a number of people including women and children. The exercise was repeated
on the 30th and 31st of December 2010. At the end over 145 houses were
demolished and 3000 left homeless. To date no explanation has been given for
this callous act. When Hakijamii visited the settlement in early January
2011 a number of women were still nursing their wounds while the rest were
counting their losses and hundred forced to sleep outside. Such impunity
must be vigorously fought and preparation for filing a constitutional case
in court are at advanced stages. In the meantime we hope that Government
officials will strictly adhere to the spirit and letter of the Constitution
that prohibits forced evictions.
A clip from Good Fortune showing a Soweto Forum meeting on the slum upgrading project.
Soweto Forum can be seen in the award winning documentary Good Fortune. Good Fortune explores how massive, international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit. Through intimate portraits of two Kenyans battling to save their homes from large-scale development organizations, the film presents a unique opportunity to experience foreign aid through the eyes of the people it is intended to benefit.
On the outskirts of Nairobi, Silva’s home and business in Africa’s largest squatter community (Kibera) are being demolished as part of a United Nations slum-upgrading project (KENSUP). In the rural countryside, Jackson’s farm is being flooded by an American investor who hopes to alleviate poverty by creating a multi-million dollar rice farm (Dominion Farms).
Interweaving meditative portraits of its characters, Good Fortune examines the real-world impact of international aid. With a broad scope and intimate style, the film portrays gripping stories of human perseverance and suggests that the answers for Africa lie in the resilience of its people (movie synopsis taken from http://www.goodfortunefilm.com/).
During the film Silva (one of the two main characters) visits Soweto Forum, a community partner of Hakijamii, that fights for the rights of residents of Kibera.
If you have Netflix click here to watch Good Fortune instantly.
In its continued efforts to strengthen the capacity of community-based groups to effectively advocate for their housing rights and evoke response from Government institutions, Hakijamii supported Ngazi ya Chini in developing a cogent counter proposal to the Kenya Railways Relocation Plan. The Relocation process is partially being supported by the World Bank and must therefore strictly comply with the Bank’s own guidelines on involuntary resettlement. It should also be noted that with the new Constitution in Kenya, forced evictions are no longer permissible without following strict human rights procedures. The counter proposal is a clear demonstration of the ability of the people to be actively involved in decision-making and will go a long way in bolstering the negotiating position of the affected persons.
On the 10th of November 2010 Hakijamii was among the many civil society organizations that attended a workshop opened by the Ministry of Lands Mr. James Orengo to discuss the legal implementation framework for the National Land Policy and the Constitution. Land has been identified as one of the main causes of tension and conflict in the country and from 2004 Hakijamii has been a member of the Legal thematic group involved in the formulation of the National Land policy that culminated in the approval of the Policy in December 2009. Currently Hakijamii is a member of the Legal Technical Working Group that is working on the relevant legislation to implement the Land Policy and the Constitution. One of the legislative agenda for the both the Land policy and the Constitution is the establishment of the National Land Commission whose main purpose is to bring a stop to the massive abuse of power that ahs characterised land administration in the country resulting into conflicts and sufferings of thousands of poor people. One of the key resolutions of the workshop was that the Bill creating the National Land Commission must be fast tracked to expedite land reforms and bring peace, stability and development.
Between the 28th of September 2009 and 1st of October 2010 Hakijamii and the Ministry of Lands’ Land Reform Transformation Unit organized a retreat for the members of the Task Force that is developing the national guidelines/ legislation on forced evictions. The Task Force has been in existence since 2006 but received an impetus when the new Constitution was finally promulgamated in August 2010. The Constitution for the first time now entrenches economic and social rights including the right to housing. During the retreat that was attended by representatives from key Government Ministries, Kenya National Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, Kenya Land Alliance Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions ( COHRE) and grassroot organizations, a final draft was agreed upon and is now being finalized to be presented to the Minister of Lands who will in turn table it before the Cabinet for approval. Once adopted, the legislation will go along away in making it very difficult for both state and non-state actors to carry evictions without following very clear and strict procedures based on international standards. The proposed legislation also provides effective remedies for victims of forced evictions. Plans are underway to initiate sustainable lobbying efforts to ensure that the legislation is passed as soon as possible.
The waste from Dandora Dumpsite has led to poor sanitation for the people residing in Dandora settlement (slum)
A visit to the Dandora dump site in Nairobi, one of Africa’s largest waste dumps, reveals the unsanitary conditions to which the poor living next to the dump are exposed. Dandora, located in a low-income residential area about eight kilometers (five miles) east of Nairobi center, is the main dumping site for most of the solid waste generated by the people living in Nairobi. Health experts have warned residents of the hazards of working in and living near the dump site. For years now, the community, Civil Society Organizations, and Faith Based Organizations have asked the Government to do something about it. Dumping at the site is unrestricted leaving industrial, agricultural, domestic and medical wastes (including used syringes) scattered all over the site. Plastics, rubber, lead paint treated wood, and poisonous chemicals are just some of the hazardous items on the dumpsite.
The Nairobi River is located right next to the dump and some of the waste makes its way into the water, which carries these environmental and health hazards to communities near the dump. Downstream people use the water to irrigate food products which end up making their way to the dinner table. Every day, scores of people, including children, from the nearby slums and low-income residential areas use the dump to find food, recyclables and other valuables they can sell as a source of income. As they pick over the garbage, they are inhaling the noxious fumes from routine waste burning and methane fires. As a result people, including children, living nearby have been suffering from respiratory diseases caused by the burning of trash in the dump.
There has been a lot of talk about cleaning up the dump site, but when you visit you can see that the talk hasn’t led to any significant action. Is anyone doing anything?
Pupils at a school in one of Nairobi's informal settlements.
For a long time now, the urban child has been considered to be more likely than a rural child to realize the dream of fully participating in school. This has mainly been attributed to what is commonly known as the “urban advantage”. This “urban advantage” is associated with increased access to facilities such as schools in urban areas.
Recent work documenting population health in urban and rural areas has begun to suggest that some sections of the urban population do not benefit from the “urban advantage”. For example, a child in an informal settlement (slum) of Nairobi is more likely to suffer from diarrhea than a child in rural Kenya. In addition, a child from the richest household in the slums is more likely to suffer from diarrhea than a child from the poorest family in rural Kenya.
Data from focus group discussions collected in the slums of Nairobi provide the context for discussion. The results suggest that school enrollment is higher in urban non-slum than in urban slum areas, and is higher in slums than in rural areas at younger ages. However, this is only true up to age 9 for females and 11 for males, from which school enrollment for slum children declines and the rate of decline is faster than among their rural counterparts.
The corresponding ages at which the enrollment among the rural children begins to visibly decline are 13 years for males and 14 years for females. Factors contributing to these results point to the poor quality of primary schools in slums, limited access to secondary school for slum children, disabling environment at home, increased child labor, and increased vulnerability to coercion into sexual activity and other ills that hinder school participation.
A group at a education meeting in Starehe constituency (district).
Hakijamii is currently facilitating meetings in all 8 of Nairobi’s constituencies (districts) to discuss, create awareness, and recruite members to advocate for the right to education in the people’s settlements (slums). Education conveners are chairing the meetings and are planning a national public rally for the 30th of September, 2010 to provide a platform from which communities from the people’s settlements can voice out education issues that they feel are being under addressed by the Government.
Better housing required in the informal settlements
Informal settlements are blighted by a lack of durable housing, insufficient living space, a lack of clean water, and inadequate sanitation. Residents in such settlements often lack security of tenure, which makes them vulnerable to forced evictions, threats and other forms of harassment. The effects of forced evictions are often disastrous, leaving them homeless and forcing them deeper into poverty.
Many people living in informal settlements have been subject to continual harassment by authorities in their endeavors to provide themselves with appropriate and affordable housing. The unsatisfactory tenure of the majority of the urban poor has all along been recognized as a limiting factor to access to other opportunities including credit, public services and livelihood.
On 12th August 2010, the civil society under the leadership of Hakijamii, Ufadhili Trust, Shelter Forum and others, organized a consultative meeting that brought together all stakeholders (Communities, NGOs, Private sector, Faith based organizations and Government representatives).
The meeting was successful and resolved that there is a need to work together for sustainable development in Kibera.
Click here to see the May 15, 2010 draft of the Relocation Action Plan
There is a meeting organized by Hakijamii and Haki Yetu in Mombasa on August 20, 2010 to discuss joint strategies for the implementation of the new constitution.
Free Primary Education was introduced for all in Kenya. It was a step in the right direction, but were all children taken into account when the program was introduced? Are the physically challenged able to access education in Kenya? Many parents or guardians with disabled children watch helplessly as they grow up having no hope for their future. The majority of children living with disabilities have not been able to go to schools that can meet their needs hence have been marginalized.
Disabled youth at a school for handicapped children in Kenya.
The focus in the education sector in Kenya has mostly been on “normal” children with very little attention being paid to those with special needs. Thousands of these children, especially those from poor families, do not have access to proper education either because disabilities prevent them from going to school or their families sideline them.
The obstacles hindering accessibility of education to the disabled stem from poor access to facilities, lack of transport, lack of funding, and unavailability of equipment such as children’s wheelchairs. A majority of these children come from informal settlements. Some require expensive daily medication that their unemployed parents/guardians cannot afford. One such parent is Beatrice Atieno Oginga who lives in Kibera settlement (slum), Nairobi with a mentally challenged child.
“My son Eric Ouma Oginga is 23 years old now and bringing him up to this age has not been easy. I came to find out of his condition when he was only four years old. Since then he has been in and out of the hospital. He takes medication on a daily basis and is expected to do so for the rest of his life.
Eric is a pupil at Nakuru Hills Special School for the mentally handicapped. He started school at Jacaranda Special Day School, but I had to transfer him to a boarding school due to the expenses. He would commute daily to the school which meant I had to pay his bus fare every day and that became too expensive for me. Taking him to school has been very difficult especially since I am not employed and depend on odd jobs. His medication comes to about Ksh200 a day. I have to feed him as well which adds on to the many expenses. It used to be a bit easier when his father was alive since we could help each other.
There are many parents like me who want their disabled children to have a brilliant future, but do not have the facilities/resources. I wish the Government would assist us by making education accessible to our children. The Government needs to include special schools for such children, within the informal settlements, to enable them to live a normal life. We as parents try hard, but the expenses are too many and in most cases the children do not enroll in any school because their parents cannot afford it.”
Beatrice is just one of many parents struggling to put a disabled child through school. The Government needs to educate these children if they truly wish to achieve their goal of education for all. Several measures need to be put in place to ensure that the physically challenged are able to access and afford a proper education. The Government therefore must act to ensure that all Kenyan children, even those with disabilities, receive a primary education.
The village of Owinohuru, located in the coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya faces so many challenges that their community organization, the Owinohuru Self-Help Group, is struggling to fight all its battles.
Haki Yetu- “our rights”- is Hakijamii’s main partner organization in Mombasa. Haki Yetu works with community groups in and around the city. John Paul Obonyo is the organization’s Program Officer, and he took us to Owinohuru and provided some history of the village’s issues.
John Paul Obonyo, Program Officer for Haki Yetu, Hakijamii's main partner in Mombasa.
First is the all too common threat of eviction. I have touched on the problem of forced evictions in Kenya (see The Ladder That Runs Down, Eviction Task Force) due to poor land and housing policies. In the 1950s, an Indian family owned the land in Owinohuru. People gradually moved in and set up houses, businesses, churches, and schools. The landowner left, leaving a houseboy to take care of the property. The people of Owinohuru lived there peacefully for 40 or more years. Just recently the landowner (or a relative of, this was unclear when we asked) has spontaneously demanded the land back- likely in order to develop the area- which would force the entire community to leave their homes and livelihoods.
The land case has recently gone to court, and was postponed until September of this year. Though the landowner has papers claiming to have paid KSH 58 million (725,000 USD) for the land, he has not yet produced a title for it. The community hopes that the newly passed constitution, which involves barring non-citizens from absolute ownership of land and power to reclaim grabbed public land, will work in its favor come the next court date. This threat of eviction has consumed the community’s efforts and resources for the time being.
The battery factory, owned by EPZ Metal Refinery Ltd, lies at the entrance of Owinohuru and operates at night so as not to draw attention.
An even more disturbing concern threatens the community’s health: in 2007, a battery recycling factory was installed in the village, producing toxic smoke so thick that community members could hardly breathe when it was operating. Shortly thereafter, people began getting sick, complaining of incessant coughing, difficulty breathing, high fevers, etc. Children were hit the worst and began having trouble learning in school. It was found that several of the children had high levels of lead in their blood.
After outcry from the community, the factory was shut down for a short time, but has since re-opened- operating, shadily, at night. The factory owners refuse to even have a discussion with the community members, doing everything they can to keep it operating.
Because this issue is so heartrending, I have made a video that explains the story through interviews with community members much better than I could ever put in words. Please watch it, and show it to as many people as you can. It seems that the only way for Owinohuru to remove the factory is to bring enough negative attention to the factory that it is forced to shut down completely.
Kibarani People’s Settlement (slum, informal settlement) is located in Mombasa along the railway to Uganda. The residents of Kibarani live in mud brick houses with no running water or electricity. Life is difficult, but residents like the inexpensive location with a beautiful view of the ocean, fertile soil to plant small gardens, and a bus stop nearby so they can easily travel to wherever they need to go.
View of Kibarani with the container depot in the background. Owners of the depot want to expand into Kibarani. To do this the homes seen above will be demolished and the people residing there will need to relocate.
Kibarani was once the main garbage dump for Mombasa attracting many poor families to come settle and earn a living collecting and recycling trash (plastic, cardboard, metal). Around 8 years ago the city landfill was relocated to Mwakirunge and parts of Kibarani’s dump were cleaned up making unusable land usable again. With this newly available land business men saw an opportunity to invest putting up truck yards and container depots. The poor families that moved to and built homes in Kibarani are now being threatened with eviction by these private developers.
Recently, a truck transport company located next to Kibarani has talked with the local government about buying a plot of land, within Kibarani, to expand their container depot. To do this they must evict the residents that currently reside there. The company hired a firm to get the residents of the plot to agree to move for a small sum of money. The company wrote an agreement to pay residents to leave and got 100 people to sign it. On the 14th of July, 2010 there was a notice that the plot had been sold and anyone residing there needed to vacate the land within 14 days.
The local CBO (community based organization) Village Development Committee went to Haki Yetu (a partner of Hakijamii in Mombasa) to ask for help to stop the evictions. Haki Yetu helped them to identify and make a list of everyone that lived within the plot. After completing the list they found that only 45 of the 100 people that signed the agreement were actually living in the plot. With this and other information Haki Yetu and the Village Development committee has brought the case to court.
Dan Okongo of the Village Development Committee speaks to us about the pending evictions.
Though there has not been a final decision made on the case residents of Kibarani say that people still come (sometimes at night) to try and evict them. Dan Okongo ,a business man that has lived on the plot for 20 years, told us that most people living in the settlement are opposed to any relocation. “We don’t want to move. We have houses, businesses, a school, and a church on this plot of land.”
This isn’t the only case of evictions happening in Mombasa or even in Kibarani. In 2006, Kenya Railways evicted residents of Kibarani. They were never given a reason for the eviction and the land has stood idle ever since. After the eviction, the residents set up camp at the government office that gave the go ahead to evict; refusing to leave until they were given a place to relocate. Eventually, they were allowed to rebuild on a riparian zone prone to flooding.
The riparian zone where the people evicted by Kenya Railways rebuilt their homes.
In Owinohuru Settlement descendants of former occupants of the land have come back, decades after their family had lived there, claiming they still own the land. They want to sell the land to private developers. (See Advocacy Project Fellow Christy Gillmore’s Blog to learn more)
If the communities don’t take action on their own they will continue to be exploited. Groups like Haki Yetu work to empower the people being directly affected so that they can claim their rights. With assistance from groups like Haki Yetu residents of these communities are learning how to stop private developers from taking the land they have called home for years.
Since 2007, Nairobi People’s Settlement Network (NPSN), in collaboration with other community groups,* has been holding an annual forum led by residents of the people’s settlements (slums) to prioritize the people’s needs and make recommendations to the Kenyan government on how to allocate the national budget. According to the People’s Budget, “[t]he primary responsibility of the government is to respect, protect, promote and fulfill all human rights of its citizens. To achieve this… the government must [enact] appropriate laws and policies as well as provide money and resources to address the basic needs of its citizens.”
A government’s commitment to fulfill basic human rights is determined by how it allocates its resources (national budget). It does not matter how just a constitution or laws are if the government does not provide the resources needed to put these laws into practice. Every government disperses resources through its annual budget and through this budget it becomes clear whom and what are valued by the government. Therefore, it is the belief of residents of the people’s settlements that the budget is a highly effective tool in improving their standard of living and claiming their rights.
See the following video to learn more about the People’s Budget:
Before the People’s Budget, most residents of the settlements had no platform to make their priorities heard by the government. The government would create the annual national budget with little input from the common Kenyan; projects that residents of the settlements found most essential to improving their quality of life were rarely funded. Nairobi People’s Settlement Network decided it was time for the people of the settlements to become more involved in the budgeting process and stop waiting for the government to solve their problems for them.
With the help of Hakijamii, residents of the settlements in Nairobi (and recently Kisumu) hold meetings to outline where the greatest need for government assistance lies within education, land and housing, food security, environment, economic and social empowerment, water and sanitation, health, and safety and security sectors. For the national budget to be properly utilized all citizens of the country, not just government officials, should play an active role in budget formulation. With input from the settlements the government can make a more informed decision on what, where and how money from the national budget should be spent.
Meetings have already begun in preparation for the next People’s Budget forum, scheduled for May of 2011. It is a long and arduous process, but it is worth all the time and effort. With the People’s Budget the residents of the settlements are one step closer to living a life with dignity.
We visited the Soweto Community People’s Settlement Forum, a network focused in the Kibera people’s settlement. They have weekly meetings where they learn about different topics, such as what is in the proposed Kenyan Constitution (to be voted on August 4th and the source of much controversy) and gender-based violence. The groups who comprise the Soweto Forum (24 groups, 500 families) do various activities, such as bead-making and urban gardening (see pictures below).
Women from Soweto Forum showing beads that they make and sell
Women from Soweto Forum showing their urban gardening technique, where plants grow out of the side of the rice sacks to save space.
The Forum’s main objective, however, is to make sure that community members are involved in the slum upgrading project that has been discussed by the Kenyan government and UN-HABITAT for a long time now. Initially, there was a settlement executive committee (SEC) established to represent the people of Soweto in this slum upgrading project, to act as the link between the government and the people. However, community members thought the SEC did not provide adequate communication between the government and the community, nor did it represent the people’s needs as they would have liked. To address these problems and empower people in the community to have a voice, Soweto Forum was established in 2004.
To people living in Soweto, “this [slum upgrading] project is a mirage” (John Mwihia Karanja, Soweto Forum chairman). They have been promised new houses for years now. Some people were in fact moved out of Soweto into a “decanting,” or temporary housing, site in Lang’ata, away from their community and what they knew. They were told they would shortly be moved into new houses and land, better than what they had before. These new houses were built, but were given to people from other communities for reasons the Soweto community was never informed about. Those who had been moved from Soweto were left in the decanting sites.
My understanding of these politics is very limited, and what I’ve said here is incredibly simplistic. All I can gather is that ethnicity and money play a disproportionate role in who gets what. Groups like Soweto Forum have a lot to overcome, but one must admire their courage for standing up and claiming their rights.
A short clip of John Mwihia Karanja showing the conditions in Soweto, Kibera:
I continue to be amazed at the efforts by community groups happening around me. Last week we attended a meeting with groups from the people’s settlements and the Civil Society (i.e. NGO) Housing Coalition. The purpose of the meeting: to mobilize community groups to develop a cohesive and pro-active response to evictions- a rapid response mechanism. Though there is an NGO housing coalition, community members often don’t know where to go or which group to contact when an eviction emergency occurs.
Group discussion at Housing Coalition meeting
Louis and I introduced the notorious railway evictions in Kenya. We knew little about other evictions that frequently take place in the people’s settlements. Land rights are a huge issue here; it is difficult to know who owns what land and often deals are made to purchase land where people reside- mostly, the people’s settlements.
In short, there is government-owned or unclaimed land where people settle. They live there for awhile in peace. They build houses and establish businesses, churches, schools, and clinics. Then a developer wants to build on that land. He talks to a few government employees, pays a little money and it is agreed that the settlers will be asked to leave their homes. This is often done at night to avoid riots. Police can come with teargas and guns to intimidate people. Since residents feel there is nothing they can do, many leave without a struggle, unaware that they are entitled to certain rights. Sometimes, though, they refuse to go. If the residents put up a fight, it is common for the developers to find someone willing to make a buck (probably not even that much) to burn their houses, leaving them with nothing. (For more details on this subject, read Amnesty International’s report from 2009)
The remains of a burned house in Kibera. This resident has spoken out against forced evictions and was likely targeted because of this.
Now community groups are coming together to try and prevent unfair evictions like these. They know that they deserve a fair resettlement process, that the conditions that force them to live as they do need to be changed. They are working together to create awareness, analyze which settlements are likely to be affected, and lobby and work with the government to create and enforce proper eviction and resettlement guidelines.
Whose idea was this “eviction task force”? Who thought to bring together community groups to develop a strategy to work against unfair and forceful evictions? “Oh, that was Opiata [Director of Hakijamii],” says Marcy, the Community Development officer at Hakijamii.
As the days go by and I talk to more people, attend more meetings, and do more research, it is clear that Hakijamii has had its hand in an incredible amount of pro-poor, pro-community, pro-human rights work. One amazing event that Hakijamii and the Nairobi People’s Settlement Network were on the front lines for (that organization members mentioned in passing, as if this was some small feat): the 2007 World Social Forum in Nairobi. For those unfamiliar, the World Social Forum is THE event for groups to come together to coordinate world campaigns, share and refine organizing strategies, and inform each other about movements from around the world and their issues; it is an alternative to the World Economic Forum, which revolves around capitalist, neoliberal ideas. It’s a space for those trying to create a more just, fair, and democratic world who don’t necessarily believe economics will solve the world’s problems.
In 2003, the Kenyan government introduced Free Primary Education (FPE) for all. Since its inception, the number of students attending primary schools has significantly increased. Statistical indicators show that the FPE initiative has brought some positive changes, but it is still beyond the reach of many Kenyan families to get a child through primary school.
The FPE program provides children with staffed public schools to attend as well as learning materials. However, it does not supply them with a uniform, food, or transport to school. These costs are to be paid by the student’s parents, many of whom live in the people’s settlements (slums) and make less than a dollar per day. Therefore, they cannot afford to send them to public school.
Olympic Primary is a public school in Kibera.
Though the Kenyan government has increased funding to the education sector (to 17% of the national budget), it is beyond the scope of the budget to provide free primary education to all. Many international donors were assisting the government in supporting the initiative, but in 2009 an audit revealed that 1 million USD in grant money was missing and 26 million USD had been diverted from the education fund. Due to this incident, many international agencies (World Bank, Canada, UK and USAID) have suspended funding.
Although free primary education has provided children from the poorer areas of society with hope, it has also created significant problems. Rapid expansion of enrollment has drastically increased the student to teacher ratio, causing the quality of education to suffer. Statistics have shown that although there is an increase in the number of students taking the exam to get their Certificate of Primary Education the percentage of students that pass the exam has decreased.
As a result of the poor quality of education the number of private schools in Kenya is almost 10 times greater than before the FPE initiative started. Many people who would normally send their children to public schools have been forced towards private schools because of overcrowding. Private schools in Kenya are no longer just for the rich. There are now private schools catering toward people of all social and economic backgrounds.
Informal School in Kibera
In the people’s settlements many families send their children to private informal schools funded by NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). These informal schools provide children who cannot afford to buy uniforms or pay for transport to a public school a place to learn. Most of these informal schools don’t have electricity, running water, or sanitary bathrooms, but at least the children are given a chance to learn.
To improve education in the people’s settlements of Nairobi, NPSN (Nairobi People’s Settlement Network), with the help of Hakijamii, has brought together educational groups from each of the 8 constituencies (districts). These groups come together to discuss ways to provide a better education for their children.
In June 2010 NPSN held Education Accountability meetings in each of the 8 constituencies, where members of the communities, teachers, and government officials came together to discuss the state of education in the settlements. Government officials explained the application process for funds allocated for poor and disadvantaged youth. After, members of the community asked questions directly to the officials and made suggestions for improvement of the process. With these sessions community members hope that the government will listen and utilize their suggestions. A member of NPSN said that before the network was formed it was impossible for the community to have a conversation with a government official. Now that they have unified government officials will take the time to come and listen to their ideas.
Starehe District Education Officer Mr. J. Muchiri Ndung'u. One of the government officials attending the Education Accountability Meeting.
The problems with FPE in Kenya are many, but the initiative is a step in the right direction. There needs to be an unbiased private firm doing the monitoring and evaluations to combat corruption and ensure that allocated funds go to free primary education. The government also needs to maintain a dialogue with groups at the grassroots level to better be able to meet the needs of the common Kenyan. If they manage to do these things I am hopeful that someday there will be free primary education for all.
WASH United is a global campaign that uses the sport of football (soccer) to promote safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for all. Its launch corresponded with the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to take advantage of World Cup fever. WASH United’s campaign targets a wide range of groups from schools, youth football clubs and local communities to politicians, governments, civil society organizations and the media. By uniting all stakeholders, WASH United hopes to promote water and sanitation as a basic human right.
Beverly of Hakijamii strikes a pose with four WASH participants
In Kenya, universal access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is still far from being achieved. According to official figures, 76% of residents in Nairobi’s informal settlements do not have access to toilet facilities at household level. Instead many use open spaces or flying toilets (human feces placed in a plastic bag which is then thrown outside). Hand washing with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea by 35-50%, but only 5% of Kenyans use it consistently. Diarrhea-related diseases kill more Kenyan children under the age of 5 than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.
Girls from Olympic Primary School, Kibera getting ready to play the Blue Hand Game
It is crucial for Kenya’s development to have a well educated and healthy workforce to improve the struggling economy. Yet it is estimated that 50% of all hospital visits in Kenya are due to preventable water, sanitation, and hygiene related illnesses. These illnesses prevent children from attending school and adults from going to work. The need for clean water, bathroom facilities and for all Kenyans to wash their hands before eating and after going to the toilet are essential in improving the country’s economic and social well being.
On July 3, 2010, WASH United held an event in Raila, Kibera to teach children the importance of using a toilet and washing their hands. The event had many different activities for children to participate in. First was the World Toilet Cup game. The object of the game was to kick a poo ball (soccer ball) into a toilet or latrine to win a small prize. Another activity was the Blue Hand game which illustrates how germs spread. Some of the children had blue chalk on their hands while others did not. Both the children with blue hands and the children without blue hands formed a circle and tossed a ball to one another. After the game the children that originally didn’t have blue hands noticed that their hand were blue. The last game was the charcoal game where children washed charcoal off of their hands to learn how to properly wash their hands so that they were germ free. After they were done washing they wiped their hand on white paper towels to see if they had got their hands completely clean.
Brenda, a student at Olympic Primary School in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, speaks about what she learned at a WASH United event on July 3, 2010.
With the help of groups like Hakijamii WASH United hopes that individuals, communities, and the government will increase their efforts to make safe water, sanitation and hygiene available to all. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a fundamental human need and therefore, a basic human right. With campaigns like WASH I am hopefull that someday soon everyone will have access to this basic human right.
In 2004, Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) sent out a notice of eviction to railway dwellers in Kibera and Mukuru people’s settlements. The communities reacted, bringing their objections to the evictions to court. The World Bank, upon hearing about the case, suspended funding to the KRC. In order for KRC to continue to receive funds they would need to follow the World Bank’s guidelines for resettling Project Affected Persons (PAPs). This action put a stop to evictions without relocation or compensation.
See the video below to learn more about Ngazi Ya Chini and the newest Relocation Action Plan:
To follow the guidelines KRC hired Pamoja Trust to act as human rights consultants. Pamoja Trust was responsible for creating a Relocation Action Plan (RAP), a report that seeks to ensure proper resettlement guidelines are enforced during the railroad expansion process. The consultants began by using community groups to count the number of residential houses, businesses, and institutions that would be affected by the project. They then spoke with the communities to determine what the railway dwellers considered fair compensation for their relocation. Using this information, Pamoja Trust developed the 2005 RAP.
After examining the RAP railway dwellers realized that parts of it did not reflect what they had told Pamoja Trust, spurring them to form Ngazi Ya Chini. With the help of Odindo Opiata (Then of Kituo Cha Sheria and now Director of Hakijamii), they wrote a counter proposal that was sent to the World Bank, highlighting problematic areas.
Homes and Businesses Along the Railway
Along with the counter proposal, other events caused delays in the RAP’s implementation. In 2006, the railway operation formerly run by KRC was contracted out to Rift Valley Railways (RVR), a private company. Then in 2007 the post election violence, centered mainly in the slums, uprooted parts of the railway. Most notable was a train derailment that caused 10 fatalities beyond the 5.2 meter safety zone initially proposed in the 2005 RAP.
In 2010, RVR contracted Pamoja Trust to produce another RAP. This time a 30 meter safety zone was proposed on both sides of the track. They told members of Ngazi Ya Chini that the reason for the larger safety zone was to improve operational speed, provide area to expand from one to three railway lines, and to protect railway dwellers from another derailment. According to the new enumerations done by Pamoja Trust, there are 5071 homes, 3836 businesses, and 262 institutions (including churches, medical clinics, and 49 informal schools) within this 60 meter zone.
Pamoja Trust submitted a draft of the new RAP on May 15, 2010. In it they propose that, in Kibera, parameter walls be built 23 to 25 meters from the center line of the track. With the remaining 5 to 7 meters (of the 30 meter total) they plan to create a paved 3 meter wide footpath that runs parallel to the perimeter walls and a 3-story building to house the displaced residents of Kibera and their businesses. Schools, churches, and clinics will not be relocated. The RAP gives the following options for students attending schools that will be demolished:
“Some of the public schools may be able to accommodate additional pupils within some of the classes… within the public schools additional [classrooms] can be constructed to accommodate more pupils…However, both solutions will call for additional teaching staff…and that may take some time to actualize.”
Students of an informal school within the proposed saftey zone
In Mukuru, part of the railway reserve is shared by Kenya Pipeline Company and Kenya Power and Lighting Company so it is not possible to build a three-story structure next to the perimeter walls as is proposed in Kibera. Instead, the RAP suggests purchasing land somewhere in Nairobi and providing the necessary infrastructure (water, storm drains, and roads) so that the displaced people can build their own housing units. The security of tenure granted to the displaced would be 45 years.
On the 16th through the 18th of June, 2010, Ngazi Ya Chini held meetings with the PAPs of Kibera and Mukuru. They analyzed the new RAP and discussed problematic areas, such as mistakes in the enumerations and too little area for resettlement. The residents of Kibera agreed that it was impossible to fit all of the people, businesses, and a 3-meter wide path into the 5 to 7 meter wide areas the proposal allotted for. Mukuru residents were concerned that there was not a specific relocation site written in the RAP and that they would only be given 45 years of tenure over this unknown site. One member stated, “Why would I build a house if it’s only secure for 45 years?”
Mr. Joseph Mwaniki of Kianda Segment of Ngazi Ya Chini noting mistakes in the enumerations
With help from Hakijamii, Ngazi Ya Chini will submit a counter proposal using input from these community meetings to ensure that the concerns of the PAPs will be heard.
After submitting the counter proposal Ngazi Ya Chini can only hope that the World Bank, RVR, and Pamoja Trust will modify the RAP to address the needs of those people most directly affected.
Click here to see the May 15, 2010 draft of the Relocation Action Plan
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